A Golden Rose
by Cherrii
Summary: Dealing with the mystery of Kai, the obvious crushes two of his friends have on each other, not to mention school and a huge fan base cheering on the Bladebreakers at another big tournament, how could Rei's life be anything but fun? RxK Longer sum inside.


Story: A Golden Rose  
  
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Author: Cherrii  
  
--- Warnings: Slight spoilers, yaoi/shounen-ai (ReixKai). --- Summary: Kai is like a nut, a sweet delectable treat inside, but covered by a hard, unforgiving shell. Rei realizes how little he knows about his team captain and decides to crack the barrier. Dealing with the mystery of Kai, the obvious-to-everybody-except-each-other-crushes two of his friends have on each other, and Kenny's continual nagging, not to mention school and a huge fan base cheering on the Bladebreakers at another huge tournament, how could Rei's life be anything but fun?  
  
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Rei blinked his eyes open, immediately wincing in the strong morning sunlight. He was closest to the windows, and apparently, Kai had forgotten to close the curtains last night before he went to bed. Ah well. Rei looked at his watch: 10:13. Time to be getting up anyway. Sitting up, he immediately felt pressure on his head, but that faded after a few seconds. Turning to his left, Rei saw something unusual. Kai was still in bed, as could be seen by the lump under the forest-green bedcovers. It was moving slowly with each deep breath that Kai took. All that the neko-jin could see of Kai was an alabaster elbow, which was bent up above his head. The covers had been pulled right over Kai, and the extra winter blankets were over him as well.  
  
Rei smiled – they were so different - Rei liked to be warm, but Kai loved to be hot. He may have been nicknamed the 'King of Ice' by his teammates and many fans around the world, but the Bladebreaker's captain definitely had a heart of fire, just like the phoenix.  
  
Getting up, the Neko-jin moved to collect his clothes, and then headed around the bed for the bathroom. He couldn't resist looking at his roommate again, as he walked to Kai's side of the bed. Rei could see now that Kai had the hand that was bent over his head holding open part of the duvet. 'So that was how he was breathing. I hate breathing in my own air, and I guess Kai does too. Besides, it's not healthy.' He could just see his teammate's face, the pale face obscured by shadow underneath the bedcovers. Kai looked so much calmer in sleep, Rei thought. His face, which usually had a scowl pulled across it, was relaxed, and you could appreciate how beautiful Kai was.  
  
Rei reached the bathroom, and opened the door, intending to have a nice hot shower. It wasn't until he was under the hot stream of water until he blushed, realizing how he had been thinking about his captain. 'Come to think of it,' Rei thought, 'why was he still in bed? As long as I can remember, Kai has been the last to bed and first to rise. I've only seen him asleep thrice before.'  
  
'Hmmm...they were when I couldn't sleep, at...I don't know...3 in the morning? Plus, when was the last time he ate an entire meal with us? Perhaps he never has...and why does he wear that war paint? Actually, I've never seen him without it, even those three times when he was asleep, and right after showers. Heck, I've never even seen the pot of the paint. What's in that notebook I often see in his bag? Wow...I never realized just how much I don't know about Kai.'  
  
By the time he had finished contemplating how much he didn't know about his captain, Rei had finished his shower and dressed, and was in the process of drying and binding his hair. Today he had opted for a darker look, and had a red shirt, black pants and a black wrap and headband. He wasn't sure why though. He guessed it was just what 'the morning made him wear', as Tyson often commented when asked why he chose what he chose what to wear that day.  
  
Picking up his nightclothes, he unlocked the door and opened it, walking out. As he did so, something brushed against his arm, and he whisked around just in time to see a pale hand closing the door. Evidently Kai had just decided to occupy the bathroom.  
  
Rei sighed. 'Ugh...almost back to school. Today we're going to have to pick up our schedules, get our school stuff at the shops – which is bound to be an absolute disaster, AND go and see Mr. Dickenson about the new Bladebreakers contract.'  
  
Perhaps a bit of background info may be useful now. You see, the entire 'Breakers gang was living at Tyson's house...apart from Kenny who only lived around the corner. Tyson was there...obviously because it's his home, Max was there because his Mother had said it would be a "Good opportunity to become more culturally apt and social, and get a wider education, not to mention being able to train with his world-champion teammates for the next tournament." Actually it was more because Max had begged, pleaded, whined, moaned, written a 5-page long debate on why it was a good idea (9 point font), acted out 6 skits on the pros and cons of staying in Japan, written a 11-page letter to Mr. Dickenson asking for help, and a 13-page one to his Dad. He had enlisted the help of Emily, Steve, Michael and Eddie, along with some of the scientists from the Research Centre, and tried bribing, blackmailing and conning his Mom into agreeing. It worked.  
  
Rei was here because he wanted to learn more. He would never get the same kind of education in his village, and Tyson's was the cheapest place to go. Not that it was free- everyone's parents – except Kai – paid Grandpa some money for the stay. One retired (if you can say that) man can't support four teenagers in his house, along with two that practically live there despite the fact that they live nearby in the city.  
  
Kai paid for himself, with the small amounts of money he could access from Voltaire's huge amount in the bank. He was living at Tyson's because he had nowhere else to go. The government refused to let him live alone, and Kai REALLY didn't want to go to an orphanage again. The last time had been bad enough, and NOW, he was older. So, despite being annoyed from dawn till dusk by Tyson and Max, he opted to stay with the other bluenette's family.  
  
Max and Tyson had their own rooms, because Rei and Kai had flatly refused to sleep with either of them. There were only four bedrooms in the house, so the two 'more mature' members of the 'Breakers shared. After hearing about the plans, Rei had asked Kai how he wanted the room decorated. Kai had bluntly replied:  
  
"I don't care, as long as there is no pink, no ugly posters and NO input from Tyson OR Max OR Kenny."  
  
They had to share a double bed, which Rei had decided was going to have a green cover. The curtains were also dark green, and there were two desks – Rei's, which was piled high with manga, papers, strange trinkets and two lamps, and Kai's, which consisted of his notebook, two pens and a pencil, and a lamp, all neatly arranged, perfectly square to the edge of the desk.  
  
School began in a week, and Rei had mixed feelings about this. He was glad, because he could finally get a formal education, and there was a chance to make lots of new friends, but he was also nervous, because he had never been to a city school before – let alone a high school.  
  
Rei shrugged, lifting his shoulders once, and headed out of the room's door, into the hall.  
  
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...Yeah. Please R&R. I know this chapter was really boring, but it'll get a lot better, I swear. It was only the first chapter, so please bear with me! ( It should be funny in later chapters! ( :D  
  
Too tired to do a side story. PLEASE REVIEW!! 


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